To: Sdgla who wrote (1171473 ) 10/16/2019 10:02:31 AM From: Wharf Rat Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 1574005 The Great Coal Collapse of 2019 Coal generation in the EU collapsed by 19% in the first half of this year, with falls in almost every coal-burning country. Half of coal’s fall was replaced by wind and solar, and half was replaced by switching to fossil gas. If this continues for the rest of the year it will reduce CO2 emissions by 65 million tonnes compared to last year, and reduce EU’s GHG by 1.5%. Coal generation already had fallen 30% from 2012 to 2018. However, even if these falls continued in 2019, coal generation is still likely to account for 12% of the EU’s 2019 greenhouse gas emissions And in the UK: Renewable Power Topped Fossil Fuels in UK During Q3 That had never happened since the U.K. opened its first public electricity generating station in 1882. Renewable energy sources generated more electricity than fossil fuels in the U.K. for the whole of the third quarter, the first time that has happened, according to research by the Carbon Brief. Chunky capacity additions, largely from offshore wind, alongside a spate of coal plant closures and an overall decrease in demand have all accelerated the trend. Fossil fuels’ share of the electricity mix was 10 times larger than renewables’ share a decade ago, Carbon Brief’s data shows. The growth of renewable energy capacity in the U.K. has remained fairly steady in recent years, with sharp additions of solar and now offshore wind making up for a softening of onshore wind. In the space of a decade, installed solar capacity has increased from a negligible level to more than 13 gigawatts. Biomass grew from 285 megawatts in 2009 to almost 4.5 gigawatts in 2018. Meanwhile, the closure of EDF’s Cottam coal power plant last month means there are now just six such plants remaining. Two of those will close next spring.